The Business Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) hosted a prize-giving ceremony for the official launch of its logo last week. The logo was introduced by the Minister of Trade and Industry Hon. Calle Schlettwein.Replacing the Registrar of Companies, the Ministry of Trade and Industry has created of a new autonomous agency known as the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) to improve service delivery in terms of the registration and effective regulation of businesses as well as the protection of industrial property rights. These include trademarks, patents, industrial designs and traditional knowledge. As part of the process to establish this agency, a design competition was launched for a new logo to mark the first step of institutionalisation to give the agency its own unique corporate identity .Minister Schlettwein said the process of business registration and licensing is crucial as an effective business registration system and processes will facilitate and increase the rate of business establishment, investments and growth of existing enterprises. “The more businesses are incorporated and become operational, the more business activities and employment opportunities can be expected.“Our drive towards improving the ease of doing business is aimed at reducing the cost and time it takes to register and start a business in our country by introducing efficiency enhancing measures. These include the introduction of mobile and online registration wherever our people have access to computers and the internet; simplification of the requirements and procedures for applying for business and intellectual property rights registration; and the establishment of an integrated (one-stop-shop) client service centre” he said.BIPA has been established in terms of Section 21 of the Companies Act, pending the enactment of the enabling legislation that will transform it into a fully-fledged state-owned agency.